Max Armstrong prepares for first trip to the Tour de France

Tour Baby: Lance Armstrong‘s newborn son Max has his Social Security Card and is getting his passport in order to travel to France to see Dad race. Also, Alberto Contador using the Dauphine to ready himself for the Tour de France; he’s not looking for a win.

Other News:

• Eddy Merckx is denying that he spoke to French sports magazine La Voix du Nord or that he ever passed judgement on Tom Boonen. He had spent the last week in Oman helping to plan next year’s bike race there.
• Carlos Sastre of the Cervelo Test Team will definitely be back to defend his Tour de France title. He’ll be able to choose from Thor Hushovd (Noo), Heinrich Haussler (Ger), Simon Gerrans (Aus), Xavier Florencio (Spa), Iñigo Cuesta (Spa), José Ángel Gómez Marchant (Spa), Vladimir Goestov (Oek) Andreas Klier (Ger), Brett Lancaster (Aus), Gabriel Rasch (Noo) and Hayden Roulston (NZL) to support his efforts.
• Ivan Basso dropped out of the Dauphine Libere after the conclusion of yesterday’s stage. He cited an ongoing fever as the cause.
• Columbia Highroad’s Michael Albasini will be going for the win at the Tour of Switzerland. While many use the race as preparation the Tour de France, the 28 year old Swiss rider considers this the key race of his season. He’ll have a strong team consisting of Marcus Burghardt, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, George Hincapie, Kim Kirchen, Tony Martin and Maxime Monfort to back him up.
• The International Olympic Committee will meet on July 28th to decide whether to take back Davide Rebellin‘s silver medal from the Olympic road race.
• Two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon has been diagnosed with an advanced form of colon cancer. Though doctors have assured him that it is unlikely, Fignon is questioning whether there is a link between the cancer and doping. Fignon tested positive for illegal substances twice in the late eighties.
• The Agritubel team has nailed down 3 of it’s 9 riders for the Tour de France. Christophe Moreau, David Le Lay and Maxime Bouet will definitely be on the starting line. The remainder of the team will come from the shortlist of Freddy Bichot, Sylvain Calzati, Brice Feillu, Romain Feillu, Eduardo Gonzalo, Yann Huguet, Christophe Laurent, Geoffroy Lequatre, Anthony and Nicolas Ravard Vogodny.
• Young Croation rider Robert Kiserlovski is slated to make a move from the Air Force-Amica Chips team to Fuji-Servetto. Earlier this morning, the Amica Chips organization released a letter that casted doubt on the transfer, however. They say that the transition was not authorized. The Amica Chips team is still fighting to provide all necessary financial guarantees and be back on good terms with the UCI.
• Fuji, along with Katusha and LPR, were not included in the list of teams invited to the Vuelta a Espana. American team Garmin-Slipstream will have their first start in the race. Five continental teams have been invited: Andalucía-CajaSur, Contentpolis-Ampo and Xacobeo-Galicia (all from Spain), along with Dutch team Vancansoleil and the Canadian-sponsored Cervélo TestTeam.
• Sebastian Lang (Silence-Lotto), who suffered a fall at yesterday’s stage of the Dauphine, has been examined by doctors and did not suffer any fractures. The team expects him to be ready for the Tour de France.
• Two amateur racers died Tuesday while on a training ride after being struck by an SUV near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Another rider was seriously injured in the crash. The driver of the SUV, 38-year-old Tausah Borland, was detained Tuesday evening on suspicion of drunk driving.

Mountain Bike News:

• USA Cycling’s Professional Cross-country Tour (ProXCT) resumes this Friday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Carmichael Training Systems Sand Creek International. The Friday-Saturday event includes short track and cross-country competition between the continent’s top off-road racers, as well as age-group cross-country races in the amateur ranks.

Brief Results:

• Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) edged out his breakaway companions Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick Step) and Stephane Goubert (Ag2r) to win the 6th stage of the Dauphiné Libéré. There are no changes in the overall standings. The leading trio of Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) and Alberto Contador (Astana) all finished 4’12″ behind Fedrigo.
• Columbia-Highroad’s Judith Arndt took her first victory of 2009 at the Bira stage race in Spain. She was the fastest in a 19-rider sprint that decided the 78-kilometre stage starting and finishing in Iurreta, and is now race leader of the prestigious Spanish event. Arndt had a very tough spring in which she first broke a collarbone and then was unlucky enough to fracture her wrist in a crash in her first race back in April.  She returned to racing in the GP Montreal in Canada  and since then has made fast progress towards top condition.
• Colavita’s Alejandro Borrajo and Erica Allar (ValueAct Capital Team) sprinted to wins in the second stage of the 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix, a 66.5-mile road race through rural Minnesota. Despite a challenging course and aggressive racing, both Tom Zirbel (Bissel Pro Cycling) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervélo Test Team) retained their overall race leads.

Tags: Agritubel, alberto contador, Alejandro Valverde, astana, Bernhard Eisel, Bouygues Telecom, cadel evans, Caisse d'Epargne, Carlos Sastre, cervelo, cervelo test team, Colavita, Columbia Highroad, Dauphine Libere, David Le Lay, Davide Rebellin, eddy merckx, Freddy Bichot, George Hincapie, Heinrich Haussler, Ivan Basso, Judith Arndt, kristin armstrong, Lance Armstrong, Mark Cavendish, Maxime Bouet, Maxime Monfort, michael albasini, Quick Step, romain feillu, Silence-Lotto, Simon Gerrans, Slipstream, Sylvain Calzati, Thor Hushovd, Tom Boonen, Tom Zirbel, USA Cycling, Vuelta a Espana